The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-01-19
LONDON PANTOMIMES
Boxing Night PrcductiOns-The American Ex-
hiblhon Room.
The Prince OF Wales and the Theaters-TKiaS
OttO's Last Fancy-The Bishops
Page.
LSnecial Corresponoenoe Of the Sontinel.

asked him as 10 the reason ne wore q plg-tau,
| or shoes with the toss turned up, or any
4 other of the peculiar habits OF his people,
invariably replied. "BelOngee ole ole Gus
TOM
There is a little bit of the Chinaman in
our British cousins, and they perpetuate a
good many institutions for the same reason
and one of the most remarkable of these is
the Christmas pantomime. l suppose there
must have been time when that form of
amusement had some attraction for sane
people that it does not now possess; at
any rate, it is charitable to think so, but
that time has certainly gone by. The panto-
mime of this period has about as little sense
or humor in it as can well be imagined.
The same old fairy tales are rehsshed year
| after year by writers (Heaven save the markD
! who are never heard of except at pantOmime
| time, and each year the doggarel is worse
than il was before. Robinson Crusoe, The
| Forty Thieves" Jack and the Beanstalk,"
and Dick Wilmington and His Cat are the
! faYorite subjects, and the recipe for making
psntomime is about as follows:
First select your subject: t1en get some
| local scribe to write a lot of doggerel on the
story. Then get a low comedian to furnish
an assortment of lsbored jokes on the
topics of the day and public men and all
| the pretty girls who can dance that you can
| find, clown, pantaloon and harlequin; and
| all these having been we'll mixed over hot
| fire of abuse from a stage manager, set In
/ crust of gorgeous but abbreviated dresses,
superb scenery, and garnish with all the
popular songs of the day. Serve smoking on
boxing night.
There is Robinson Crusoe" at the Avenue
and at the Grand Theaters, London; Theater
| Royel Edinburgh; Theater Royal, Leeds
| Theater Royal, Newcastle and a
dozen others at minor places. This shows
how tradition is adhered to; for, except in
name, these performances have nothing
in common. OF course, the great psntomime
of all is that given by, augustus Harris ri,. at
| Drury Lane, who selects this year Tine
Forty Thieves as his topic. Any attempt to
describe the gorgeousness of the spectacle
which Mr.. Harris has devised must fall short
of the reality. For example, each of the
forty thieves is q fine woman, and each has
six retainers, so that IN reality there are 30
thieves instead of forty. These, with the
other people employed make total Of be-
tween 500 and GOO people on the
vast stage Of the Theater Royal
in all the great scenes. 1t
was sight to be remembered to enter DTury
Lane on boxing night before the curtain
rose. Although the snow and slush were
ankle Deep people were waiting at the pit
doors early IN the afternoon, and soon after
the doors opened the grand auditorium was
packed with dense mob OF gOod-natured
| humanity When the orchestra appeared
they were received with a shout of delight,
and the leader, instead Of taking his seat to
conduct the overture, turned his face to
the audience to lead them in singing, and
sing they did with will. The overture was
a medley of popular airs, beginning Loyalty
with ''God bless the Prince of Wales and
ending with GOD save the Queen" and
interspersed with 1.-TWO Jolly Black Eyes"
and other music-hall ditties.
From beginning to end the songs were ia
ken up in succession, and sung Justify by
thousand voices. Imagine a scene like that
in an American theater, If you can. The
play was filed with gorgeous dresses of
splendid fabrics and brilliant scenery, and
on these the gallery commented freely,
the witticisms at times eVoking pesIs Of
laughter.
At the Avenue Arthur Roberts, who is the
Nat Goodwin of the English stage, is playing
Robinson Crusoe," and the wits speak of
the performance as Arthur Roberts on
Crusoe," for all the fun begins and ends with
this clever and versatile actor. There are, OF
course, any number of pretty girls. You may
be pleased to imagine among them the So
ciety beauties, Miss Steer and Mrs. Mackin-
tosh, of whom L told you last week, and
pretty Phyllis Broughton, who dances as well
SIS Kate Vaughan.
AT the Gaiety. Charley Harris has stage
managed production for George EdWardes
called "Monte Cristo, Jr." This is bur
, lesque instead of pantomime, and has made
an enormous hit, as IL could hardly fail TO
do. Nellie Fsrren. the cheverest of her sex
in that line Fred Leslie, well known in
, | American ltIupltNO dAihcC SAL1 WIZ
sings II Like IT. as she did in "Evsngsline"
last year, and host OF others, all contribute
to the success.
Well, boxing day over the event of tn
winter season is past and during the spring
the great interest of the press aud p5Opie
, will center itself around the American Ex-
hibition at Earl's Court, to open May 2, 1887.
, The vast amount OF work necessary TO pre-
pare the grounds is almost concluded, and
the ingenious building of railroad iron have
| sI..L f1~af rofrx
castles painted on the windoW-panes by Jack
Frost, Esq. The preparations for this, too,
5 are complete. All the rails necessary to COM
plete the whole building are on the grounds,
D and an engine and boiler have been put IN
: place These will furnish power for the der
rick used in hosting the rails into place, and
for q huge clipping machine, used 70 cut the
" necessary bOlt-hoes, etc. At the present
rate Of progress the work will be completed
before the appointed time which is March
t 10 There are over dOO men en-
= augmented as rapidly as the men can WORK
= to advantage. The tone Of the English press
Z continues to be friendly in the extreme, and
= there is not to be found among them dis
4 senting voice. At present discussion is go
= ing on in regard to the origin of the WORD
. yankee" This has been initiated through
q the clubbing of the exhibition the "Hanker'
y les" TO conform to the names given to the
: four Kensington Exhibitions. One enthusi
4 asst suggests tDaL the VIII WeSb AuucA W
; called the 'Scalperies."
; The announcement of the exhibits fo
q which space has been secured, and thei
. character, is doing great deal also to IN
q crease the interest here, ana IN all direction
= the work goes on with zeal and enthusiasm
e born of the assurance of success.
= The mad King Ohio of Bavaria is said t.
= have a new delusion. He fancies himself
: bird. In pursuance of this fancy be ha
a built himself nest and is bemoaning tn
q fact of having no eggs to hatch.
Il Here is the last good story: NOW mind
10 Price," said his mistress to the new page, "a
- $50 YOU will take the bishops shaw
- ing.water up Knock at his door and say
10 the boy with the hot water, my lord
=, 20 And by dint Of repeating the speech owe
IL and over again the youth had got 1t prett
20 we'll into his head by next morning, whe
= he knocked at the door of the great man.
:, sWho's there?" bleated fat voice.
w 1.-THE lord with the hot water, my boy /!
fell upon the astonished episcopal ears
In Paris it is announced that in all prof.
ability the the much talked of tax on III
married men will soon become a law, an